David Braun knows Friday night will mark more than just Northwestern’s first matchup with Penn State at the new Ryan Field. Before the Wildcats take the field, their head coach made a bold declaration about the new home of Northwestern football.
Welcome to your new home, Northwestern Wildcats.
Fourth-year head coach David Braun prepares NU (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) to host Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) Friday at the new Ryan Field, which he referred to Monday as the “best football stadium in the world.”
Northwestern’s head coach announced a sellout of the 35,000 capacity stadium for its first game vs. the Nittany Lions.
“This is transformational for the university and for the football program,” Braun told reporters Monday, expressing gratitude for the Ryan family and their massive contribution toward the $870MM stadium.
NU played a portion of its 2024-26 home slate at Martin Stadium, its multipurpose lakefront field, while Ryan Field underwent demolition and reconstruction. The Wildcats posted an 8-4 record on the lakefront in that span. Late fall games took place at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
“As great as the lakefront was, just structurally, it didn’t hold acoustics or sound like new Ryan Field will,” Braun said.
“The thing that impacts our team the most and is just so impressive, is how the fans are truly on top of the action, like they are a part of the game. Standing at midfield, you almost feel like you can reach out and touch the stands.”
The university’s calling card for the new stadium, which is estimated to be 320,000 square feet larger than the original, is that every seat is a “premium” chair with an accompanying cupholder and armrest. A continuous open-air canopy roof exposes the playing field to weather, while retaining crowd noise and protecting fans from the elements.
Braun said the team pumped in fake crowd noise into Sunday’s practice at the new stadium to get a feel for what that noise retention will feel like. NU committed three false start penalties in front of a raucous Bloomington crowd in Friday’s one-score loss at Indiana.
Still, this Friday is full of unknowns in a new environment.
Routines have to change in the middle of the season – the walk from the locker room, the intro hype video, making sure sideline mechanics and communication are functional, and the assistant coaches and coordinators know where they’re sitting.
Friday night is a new setting of the standard.
“Hopefully, part of the competitive advantage for us on Friday night is, we’ve felt the surface. We’ve practiced out there,” Braun said. “Usually when you go to a Big Ten opponent, you at least have a familiarity ... It’ll be a night of a lot of firsts, but it’ll be a lot of firsts for Penn State. Fortunately, we’ve had a chance to work through some of those logistical things that maybe don’t directly impact the game.
“The more that we can eliminate any questions around that prior to Friday night, the better for us. A credit to a lot of people for helping us do that.”
The new Ryan Field replaces the program’s former stadium of the same name, which opened as Northwestern Stadium on October 2, 1926 and became Dyche Stadium one month later. The Wildcats will kick off against the Nittany Lions on the centennial of the original field’s first game.
"We have the best facilities in the country," Braun said. "The way that we support those facilities and our student-athletes in terms of everything that touches our football program, has to be viewed through a lens of, 'Is this reflective of us winning a Big Ten championship?'
"That stadium is reflective of winning a national championship. And that speaks louder than words."
With a win Friday night, the Wildcats could earn wins in back-to-back seasons against Penn State since the 2014-15 campaigns.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night on FOX, with the radio call available locally on WGN AM 720.
